Only one of over 7,000 Batman XXX P2P defendants remains

Holy downloads, Caped Crusader—the judge that has been kneecapping copyright troll suits right and left has done it again. This time, West Virginia United States District Court Judge John Preston Bailey has "severed" 7,097 out of 7,098 Joe Doe defendant subpoenas in a lawsuit alleging that they illegally downloaded copies of Batman XXX: A Porn Parody.

Bailey's reason for the dismissal? Same as the massive smackdown he dealt to a host of porn movie infringement suits earlier this month. Bunching them all together in one big case made no sense, since the defendant's actions weren't related to each other.

Once again, the cases have been "improperly joined," Bailey ruled—this error is also known as "misjoinder."

"Several courts agree that where there is no allegation that multiple defendants have acted in concert, joinder is improper," he wrote. "Accordingly, this Court finds that the defendants' alleged use of some of the same ISPs and P2P networks to commit copyright infringement is, without more, insufficient for permissive joinder."

And if that wasn't reason enough to drop all but one of these Does from the case, there was "the undeniable fact that each defendant will also likely have a different defense." Bottom line, almost all the subpoenas served on these people are now quashed.

Bleep them all

These misjoinder rebukes are starting to take on a distinctly boilerplate aspect (read the rest of them here at the Electronic Frontier Foundation's site; the EFF filed an amicus brief with the court). The latest represents another defeat for attorney Ken Ford's Adult Copyright Company, which launched this particular action on behalf of Batman XXX maker Axel Braun Productions.

The suit, filed in late October, described the flick as a "hardcore pornographic film featuring adult actresses in various intense sexual acts." Apparently Braun feels just as intense about these defendants, too. "F**k 'em all," XBiz News quotes him as saying. "People don't realize that when you pirate a movie it hurts all of the people who work very hard to get it produced—from the cast to the production assistants to the makeup artists. These are people who live paycheck to paycheck, and with Batman XXX, that was a film I financed myself."

Other Adult Copyright cases include Tokyo Teens, Pornstar Superheroes,and Relax: He's My Stepdad. The law firm presents itself as fighting for a cause.

"More than any other faction of media content producers, the adult film industry has been crippled by illegal file sharing of movies and clips from movies," the front page of the site warns in all caps. "There is an entire generation of viewers who think that it is perfectly acceptable to steal adult content. IT'S TIME TO MAKE PEOPLE PAY FOR THE CONTENT THEY STEAL."

Well, if that's what time it is, Adult Copyright should be happy to move against all these Does individually at no less than $350 a pop. Axel Braun Productions can file amended complaints and submit filing fees within 30 days of the decision, but only against Does with computer IP addresses located within West Virginia.

"Moreover, it appears to the Court that the search for Does from West Virginia can be narrowed by eliminating the Does with ISPs that do not provide Internet service within the State," Judge Bailey added.

Matthew Lasar
Matt writes for Ars Technica about media/technology history, intellectual property, the FCC, or the Internet in general. He teaches United States history and politics at the University of California at Santa Cruz. Emailmatthew.lasar@arstechnica.com//Twitter@matthewlasar